Schalk's Little Book of Combative Principles

Combatives, both in the sense of a set of techniques as well as a complete system, runs on very specific principles. These principles differ significantly from traditional martial arts and sport fighting systems. Most frequently combatives are applied within combat, law enforcement, security or self defense contexts. This means that the risk of severe injury or death is ever present. When we don't understand or incorporate true combative principles into our training we run the risk of losing within a context where losing can cost us our lives.

In this Little Book:The 3 main contextual considerations when it comes to combatives training and development.
The importance of understanding your context and the factors that are influenced by context.
Introduction to the Combative Triad.
The core principles for successfully managing close combat incidents.
Considerations on what needs to be included in training to successfully incorporate these principles.


"Each time I read a new title by Schalk, I get happy, because good, useful information is about to get in the hands of people that need it. These "Little Books" are extremely valuable, and written in a very concise yet readable style. The newest one in your hands now, gives a very good overview of the training principles that really are universal, and important to successfully navigating the real world use of Combatives. There is no fluff between these covers, no padding of the lessons, just like Combatives, they are short, to the point, and if understood and trained, give you great bang for your buck. There is also plenty of room in this short book to work and wrestle with the lessons, to really make them yours, and apply them. I can't recommend this enough. Good, usable, concise, well presented, and accurate. This is a book you will keep going back to, as your eyes open, and your understanding grows." - Terry Trahan

The "Schalk's Little Book Series" is a collection of concise treatments on certain related themes and topics. Each of the Little Books are just under 10 000 words in length and purposefully designed to be easily digested and referenced.